Oakland Announces Public-Private Affordable Housing Partnership

Published on April 09, 2026

BIPOC-led community land trust Just Homes purchased a four-unit property in East Oakland with support from the ACAH program

Oakland, CA — The City of Oakland’s Housing & Community Development Department (Oakland HCD) and the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) today announced a new public-private partnership to accelerate the creation and preservation of affordable housing in Oakland. The City is committing more than $30 million from Measure U, the voter-approved 2022 Affordable Housing Infrastructure Bond, to support the initiative and is partnering with HAF to leverage substantial private capital and provide technical assistance to community-based developers. Together, these efforts will help preserve hundreds of permanently affordable rental homes across Oakland. The program has already supported the creation of housing for educators and families transitioning out of homelessness.

“This partnership is about protecting Oaklanders from displacement and preserving the communities that make our city strong,” said Mayor Barbara Lee. “This initiative allows us to act with urgency, preserve affordable homes, and empower community-based organizations with the resources they need to compete in today’s housing market. By pairing public investment with private capital, we’re taking meaningful steps to keep Oakland diverse, inclusive, and affordable.”

While local dollars can be combined with state and federal money to support new construction of affordable housing, there are fewer resources for efforts to preserve existing affordable housing. Through this innovative public-private partnership, Oakland is leveraging private funds and establishing an ongoing method to move fast and take advantage of dips in the market to secure properties at more affordable prices.

“Affordable housing developers and community partners alike are eager to do what they can to address our housing affordability crisis, but they need the right tools to be successful,” said Rebecca Foster, CEO of the Housing Accelerator Fund. “By enabling these organizations to move at the speed of the market we hope to be a resource for the City and the many stakeholders who are coming together to save this valuable housing stock and help residents who are at-risk of displacement.”

"The Housing Accelerator Fund represents an evolution of Oakland’s commitment to affordable housing preservation as an important anti-displacement strategy. The partnership with HAF will allow Oakland HCD to meet the needs of its community-based developers to acquire and preserve naturally occurring affordable housing," said Emily Weinstein, Oakland’s Director of Housing & Community Development. "By leveraging Measure U funds to attract significant private investment, we can accelerate and scale our efforts to provide housing stability for more Oakland residents."

Recipients of the initial $22 million funding round include two projects that will preserve and create 37 affordable homes across Oakland:

Rooted, a project of the Oakland Fund for Public Innovation, has acquired and preserved 33 rental homes at the Idora in Temescal, prioritizing housing for Oakland educators.

In East Oakland, Just Homes, a BIPOC-led community land trust (CLT), purchased a four-unit property representing the only affordable housing preservation acquisition in the East Bay in 2025. In alignment with their mission to resource unhoused people with high-quality, permanent, climate-resilient housing, Just Homes leased all four units to unhoused families within months of closing; and the CLT continues to upgrade the property to meet their gold standard for sustainability, accessibility, and comfort. This project was made possible by funding from the ACAH program, the Bay Area Housing Finance Agency, and the Kataly Foundation. Just Homes plans to add a unit to this property and acquire their next property in 2027.

“Our model of housing is a permanent solution to homelessness in Oakland, one that also solves for climate, economic, and racial injustice in historically marginalized communities,” said Vivian Breckenridge, Founder and Co-Director of Just Homes. “The ability of Just Homes – and other aligned organizations – to permanently house all 5,485 of our unhoused neighbors depends on exponentially scaling public programs like ACAH.”

"Programs like this are creating opportunities for community members like me to live and work from a place of groundedness and peace," said Oakland educator Melanie Turner, who recently moved into the Idora with her son and now lives less than a mile from the school where she teaches. "Through the partnership between the City, HAF, and Rooted, teachers like me can breathe easier and show up to our work with passion, energy, and a renewed sense of purpose."

The City also provided supplemental funding to three previously awarded Acquisition and Conversion to Affordable Housing (ACAH) properties to complete rehabilitation and secure long-term affordability, bringing total commitments in this round to more than $13.4 million supporting 110 affordable homes, including 18 affordable homeownership opportunities.

This partnership builds on Oakland’s ACAH Program, which combats displacement in neighborhoods experiencing rapid gentrification. Since 2017, ACAH has preserved 312 affordable units, awarding more than $53 million in acquisition and rehabilitation funds to 19 projects citywide. The program uniquely supports community land trusts and cooperatives acquiring smaller properties under 25 units; prior to this new partnership, 12 such projects totaling more than $18 million have been funded.

About Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department

Homelessness and housing affordability are top priorities for Oakland residents. To address these challenges, the City is carrying out a multi-pronged approach. The Housing and Community Development Department is addressing housing affordability issues through its “3P” framework: Protect Oaklanders from displacement; Preserve the existing affordable housing stock; and Produce new, deeply affordable housing units. Oakland HCD also aims to prevent homelessness for vulnerable residents through partnerships with and grants to community service organizations. Read more about Oakland HCD and its current priorities in the 2023-2027 Strategic Action Plan. Oakland HCD encourages community-based organizations and developers to explore partnership opportunities with HAF.

About the Housing Accelerator Fund

The Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) is a nonprofit community development financial institution (CDFI) dedicated to accelerating the production and preservation of affordable housing across the San Francisco Bay Area. HAF provides flexible, below-market capital to mission-aligned developers and partners, enabling them to acquire, build, and preserve housing for low- and extremely low-income residents. By increasing developer capacity and advancing innovative financing approaches, HAF is helping to address the region’s housing affordability crisis while driving systems-level change in how affordable housing is financed and delivered. Since its founding in 2017, HAF has financed more than 3,500 homes. Learn more at www.sfhaf.org.